best powder for slugs

[nekshot]

I ordered some rb and slug molds today. What powders work best in 12 and 16 gauge shells for good loads, not the nose bleed stuff. It is 30 some years since I loaded for shotgun and that was with 700 high score I think. I have win primers, red dot and unique and 2400. Are these workable for 21 century slug shooting? First target then old mossyhorn as we get good enough to hit with consistancy.

[jason f]

In my opinion you cant beat blue dot for mild to wild shooting.

[longbow]

I have had very good results with Blue Dot as well in loading slugs from 1 oz. to 800+ grs. No complaints.

Not sure how good it is for "light" loads as It has a reputation for difficult ignition and I believe requires reasonably high pressure for complete combustion. Some of my loads have been pretty mild though with no problems.

If your slug weight is no more than 1 1/4 oz. Unique should be a good powder too. Not sure about Lyman load info but the BPI AQ slug is 448 grs. so just over 1 oz. and they list quite a few loads using Unique. Partly depends on your hulls as well but there should be a combination using Unique for moderate to pretty hefty loads.

For hotter stuff the Blue Dot or SR4756 are what I have been using.

Longbow

[nekshot]

Thanks for the info. I have lymans first edition shot gun manual and no blue dot info so I guess I need to get a more current manual. Trust me I have no desire for hot stuff as my shotguns are very light weight. nekshot

[longbow]

Depends on your slug/ball weight but if around 1 oz. and if you want mild loads you will likely be better off with powders like Unique or faster.

If the slug/ball is over about 1 1/4 oz. then the slower powders like Blue Dot are probably more appropriate.

I have used Blue Dot under 0.662" balls (1 oz.) with good results but it was a midrange load, not light.

You will probably find that most round ball and Foster slug recipes in the Lyman manuals use the faster powders. Also, slug recipes tend to be a bit limited so often it is difficult to match up available components with a given recipe (at least where I live it is).

Other sources are powder manufacturer websites, Ballistic Products has loading manuals and one page bulletins which I find very good:

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Technical-Brochures/products/111/

Another option for mild loads is to simply swap out shot for slug for an equal weight load. Slugs generate less bore friction so birdshot loads can be used safely with a slug substituted for the equal payload of shot.

Longbow

[chambers]

Use Winchester WSF straight from the manual for Sabot slug, shoots great!

[nekshot]

ok thanks, I made a slug mold today for 16 gauge and it cast neat looking slugs but I also know it might be folly in the end. It just seems only having rb's as a projectile is a little boring, so I will play with this slug mold thingy. When my daughter gets home from college I will get her to post some pictures of the slugs as I don't know how to do that. I don't know anything about making molds either but that is part of the fun!

[mike_kaleigh]

i just use red dot, if you want light loads it works well. in 12 gauge i use 7/8 oz lee slugs with 18 grains of red dot, in a aa hull and aa pink wads. i cronyed them and they were 1200 fps with a light recoil. they are lighter in recoil than most cheap target loads. i chose red dot because i did not want a ton of power, and did not want to use a ton of powder per shot. your weight of powder charge will vary with your components.

[mike_kaleigh]

tell us about the mold!!!!

[longbow]

Just a couple of points in case you aren't aware but:

- shotshell reloading is not like metallic cartridge reloading, you can't just work up loads with any old components
- if you have a choked gun then you slug mould should take that into account in being smaller than the choke or hollow base and/or ribbed to allow for collapse through a choke

It is safe to use shotshell data for equal weight load and substitute and slug for shot but other components except possibly wad should no be changed. Pressures can be significantly affected by changes of primer or hull for any given powder charge.

It is best to use published load data with no substitutions.

By the way, nothing wrong with round ball loads! So far to 50 yards I have found few slugs that will produce better accuracy than round balls. At longer range they do start to wander but should be good to maybe 70 to 80 yards.

Same applies to round ball ~ it has to fit through the choke if there is one!

Longbow